Slow Food Pop-Tarts, Made with Serious Love (A Foodie Gift Find!)

With science pointing to all the pitfalls of sugar on human health and longevity, I have ever more reason to curb desserts and hidden sugars. Sadly, "reason" lacks in my vocabulary during the holidays. On the rare occasions I make an indulgence, it needs to feel like one. I'm practicing the avoidance of unfulfilling, mindless hand reaches into the relentless displays of Hershey's and processed store-bought cookies (palm oil? no thanks.) that lurk left and right, and instead splurging on sweets I deem every-calorie, responsibly-spent-cent worthwhile.

Treats that are every bite local, organic, artisanal or small-batch like these eco-modern, heirloom kissed pop-tarts spotted in the New York Times magazine.Hailing from Red Queen, LLC in Georgia, pastry goddess Candice Reynolds puts a Slow Food, southern, farmers market twist on the nostalgic tart with clean ingredients and inventive, soulful flavors.

The tarts teem with wholesome contents foreign to the junky ones we ate as kids: heirloom cold-milled whole wheat, local butter and seasonal produce that create flavors like cinnamon apple tatin, blueberry lemon curd and pumpkin tart. As the NYT appropriately describes as "ravenous" sounding, the Poached-Pear tart is made from Anjou pears, stewed in clove and honeyed port. This is clearly no ordinary tart. Nor is its baker. Craftstress, Candice Reynolds, and her company Red Queen, LLC cater to lucky Altantans on the farmers' market circuit without any sign of a storefront, website, or wholesale operation.

Underground, elusive, eco-friendly pop-tarts? I'm sold.

Lucky for last minute shoppers, you can e-mail Red Queen directly to place an order and make foodie loved ones -- or yourself -- mighty pleased. E-mail info@queenoftartsllc.com.